Thursday, March 25, 2010

keep good company

so my sincerely revered teacher, Dr Claudia Welch DOM, tells this story to classes. I know this because i was in her classes... by the grace of divine intervention... She tells this story... She was really into Ayurveda. and her guru told not to follow ayurveda but to always keep good company. and the thing is that when she was in good company, she was in ayurveda...

she tells the story really vivaciously and i am not so big on good punctuation... but i think you see where i am going here...

these words ring in my mind... keep good company


and every couple weeks... i find myself in a situation like tonight where i can look around and see that i keep really good company... and i well up in a way with joy... because i keep REALLY good company... in fact this is the third event this months where i have stopped in my tracks to witness this... We had a surprise birthday party for Wynn... I went to an institute party... and tonight with Wynn and Ellie and a bunch of the IAYT crowd... and i can look around and see that I am in really good company

so keep good company

you will see nothing but beauty...

and check out claudia's site..http://www.drclaudiawelch.com/index.php?id=1l
mainly because she is brilliant... and really good company

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Had I known about the sunsets...

...I would have moved out here a long time ago... There was a point on my retreat where I realized that all things are perfect and there is an understandable intelligence to all things.

tonight as I was preparing to leave to celebrate new years with my best friend... myself... I watch a leaf dangling in the sunset. this leaf perfect has lived its life... its season... and it is drying out... though there remains a thin pulse of ojas connecting the leaf to the tree, this too is drying up... at some point there will be the intelligence to know it is time to dry ... close off the flow of ojas... submit to the winds and fly away... becoming one with the winds... to become earth...

every moment has an opportunity to see the creative intelligence of the divine.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

What is the biggest thing you learned this year?

So, today I had lunch with my friend Sumpuran. She will be caregiver numero uno for both mr. pants as well as ms. mouche. She is a lovely friend who is the proud pet of mr. winston and cookie.

We went to Taaj Palace for a very, very vata pacifying lunch preparing the way for a very vata inciting flight and evening itinerary. by the way... it worked... i feel pretty darn good and grounded.

Anyway, Sumpuran asked me what the biggest thing or maybe it was the most impressive or useful thing I have learned this year at the Institute.

I am floored to realize that I didn't have a concrete answer. It is actually a hard question to answer. It is a good opportunity for meditation.

This is the beginning of my answer:

One of the big things I learned this year is what it means to be situated in self. this is a multifaceted experience. on the one hand, it means something that I found fairly profound which is that i am important enough to be sure to take care of myself. in fact the only way i am truly effective for my clients is when i am truly effective in myself... balanced... the adage seems obvious, "Doctor, heal thyself." But really how many really take that to heart. A friend of mine described to me how the conventional medical school beats that concept out of you before you ever hit residency.

When the healer is sick or imbalanced, and we only see reflections of ourselves, how can we ever see the truth in the patient?

to be continued...

Thursday, December 17, 2009

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.” - Anäis Nin

Please... Breathe!

For many in our culture, we are unaware that many of our issues stem from a fundamental non-awareness of ourselves. our bodies waste... our minds waste... we can't sleep... our bones break... our hormones are screwed up... our minds are confused... we hurt those around us... we hurt ourselves.

Please... Breathe...

I mean it.

Lie on your back.
Feel the ground.

Close your right nostril and slowly breath in through the left.
close the left and breathe out through the right.
breath in through the right.
close the right and breathe out through the left
repeat
repeat
repeat


this breath balances the mind

hormones

nervous system

please breathe...

even if you think there is nothing wrong with you

breathe

even if you think it isnt doing anything

do it every day for two weeks
5 minutes a day

wake up and before you get up breathe

after all, what is five minutes?

breathe

after doing this two weeks

how do you feel

how do you feel

feel

breathe for two weeks

do it for yourself... do it for those around you... it doesn't matter why... just do it.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

transcendence, what is it?

What is meant by transcendence?... hm... transcendence is not to outside of oneself. It is in fact to almost become more of oneself...

In many philosophies there is a concept of a personal consciousness and an all encompassing consciousness... a person is a microcosm of the greater cosmic or universal macrocosm. In Christianity they talk of man being created in god's image. In ayurveda they say the same thing... In the interest of communication I am going to choose a couple of terms in order to better explain...

Terms:
buddhi: individual consciousness
mahat: cosmic consciousness
Transcendence: to go beyond
ego: that which allows all things to know who they are

when a person transcends in meditation he goes from a comprehension of buddhi, personal experience, into an experience of mahat, universal experience. It is a going beyond the ego and dip into the cosmic creativity.

many people discuss the ego as something to be squashed... not here. the ego is that knowledge that I am nomi. my liver cell knows it is a liver cell. the sunflower seed knows to become a sunflower.

The ego concept familiar to us in the west is a different, perverted concept. It is desire, which strengthens the ego into something that is hyperactive. ego is very strong and when it becomes out of balance with desire... desire to be greater than itself... it is cancer.

So transcendence is an expansion both inwardly as well as outwardly gaining clarity of perception of self bringing us in harmony with our innate self, the microcosm of this great macrocosm.

in this way we can access our inner teacher... the true teacher is within us.

I hope you are well and can forgive all this blah blah blah and take it for what it is. :)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Almost... Almost... Nearly... Nearly...

So this weekend changed constantly... By which I mean that it was quit unusual...

I took a nap yesterday AND today

rest rest rest

meditation
yoga
philosophy class with a new friend

sold a piece of jewelry

new show next weekend

blah blah blah

my friendships are so strong right now... it is quite beautiful... there is so much love in the world...

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD

gandhiji

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

einstein

If things aren't right... then change.

so much love to all

may there be peace in this world

may there be peace in this world

may there be peace in this world